1) Chicago BullsIncoming Players:Omer Asik, Keith Bogans, Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Brian Scalabrine, Kurt Thomas, C.J. WatsonOutgoing Players:Kirk Hinrich, Ronald Murray, Brad Miller, Hakim Warrick, Joe Alexander, Devin Brown, Jannero Pargo, Acie LawTeam Analysis: After mainly conservative fiscal moves on the part of the front office for the better portion of the last two seasons, the Bulls finally entered this offseason as players in free agency.They finally began fully committing themselves to a championship.The results weren’t staggering.Regardless of what they try to sell the fan base, they cleared up that cash for LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.Instead they got Carlos Boozer.But the Bulls then decided to make the most of the available remaining money, and spent it on pieces that could come in and play parts for championship teams.All great teams have particular role players and the Bulls seem to have them.They have the defender in Ronnie Brewer, the three point marksman in Kyle Korver and the Bulls even brought in old, wise veterans like Kurt Thomas and Keith Bogans to be mentors in times of trouble for the team.But how will it all fit?

As is the case with any kind of massive roster overhaul, chemistry is a huge issue, and the Bulls will be dealing with this chemistry while also implementing a new system from a new head coach.Tom Thibodeau was possibly the most famous assistant in the league after his noticeable work with Boston’s defense the last three seasons.This can be seen as a blessing in disguise, seeing as how he shouldn’t have to get rid of any bad habits from the previous regime.Thibodeau’s commitment to defense will be seen as a sign of hope in Chicago, but time will tell whether or not the players buy into or even execute that style.

The Bulls do have nice pieces though.Derrick Rose is an up and coming point guard, although nowhere near the superstar that the media portrays him as, Joakim Noah is a solid big man in the middle, although nowhere near the amount of money he just received, and Carlos Boozer is a very good low post scorer, although one who relied a lot on Deron Williams setting him up in Utah.It’s fair to look at this team with a bit of reservation.The Bulls have a lot of players that play certain parts without any guarantee that those parts will fit together.Add in a new coach and new system, and the learning curve could be steep for Chicago.Even still, the division is theirs to lose.They spent their money on being competitive and at least will be more than they have in recent seasons.

2) Milwaukee BucksIncoming Players:Larry Sanders, Tiny Gallon, Darington Hobson, Earl Boykins, Jon Brockman, Keyon Dooling, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Drew Gooden, Corey Maggette, Brian SkinnerOutgoing Players: Kurt Thomas, Luke Ridnour, Jerry Stackhouse, Primoz Brezec, Royal Ivey, Dan Gadzuric, Charlie BellTeam Analysis: Undergoing just as big of an overhaul as Chicago’s, Milwaukee burst onto the scene last season as one of the biggest surprises in the entire league.After years of mediocrity at best and futility at worst, the Bucks bought into coach Scott Skiles’ desired style of play and responded by making the NBA postseason for only the second time in six seasons before pushing the Atlanta Hawks to seven games in the first round, even without center Andrew Bogut.Bogut is said to be recovering nicely from an arm injury that kept him out of the postseason and should be ready to man down the center position for the Bucks for a fifth consecutive season.Long seen as inconsistent and a bit of an underachiever, Bogut routinely was registering double digits in both points and rebounds and was, by and large, the team’s best player last season.But he was joined by the team’s most exciting player in rookie Brandon Jennings.Jennings took the league by storm by scoring 55 points in a game versus the Golden State Warriors in the third week of the season.His offense was erratic, at best, for a majority of the year, but his playmaking improved drastically over the last portion of the season.

Because the Bucks felt that they were close to becoming a great team, GM John Hammond was given the green light to make aggressive, costly moves in hopes of becoming among the NBA’s best teams again.The results were nice.After trading for Corey Maggette, the Bucks resigned John Salmons, a big reason why the team surged to the postseason last year, gave a long term deal to Drew Gooden and filled in the pieces with more small moves and with their draft picks.Players like Maggette and Gooden come with recognizable names, but with games that haven’t hugely contributed to much success in the NBA.Probably where Maggette will best contribute to Milwaukee is in his ability to get to the free throw line, something the Bucks as a team were the worst at in the entire league.The Bucks are hoping that Gooden can slide in and play alongside Bogut.He’ll give you a sold, if unspectacular, stat line on a nightly basis but teams like Orlando and Cleveland will tell you not to rely too much on Gooden’s consistency.

Although the new pieces are nice, a lot of this team will rely on the improvements of players like Jennings, Bogut, Ersan Ilyasova and continued, solid production out of players like Jon Brockman, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Carlos Delfino.In an ideal scenario, all of those pieces fall into place for Milwaukee and the team takes the entire league by storm.But there’s great potential for a crash and burn here.Skiles’ style has soured elsewhere before, a lot of the names they brought in haven’t achieved much before, and Bogut has still not proven he can have a consistent and relatively injury free year.All needs to go right for Milwaukee to reach its full potential, but there’s a chance all could go right.

3) Indiana PacersIncoming Players: Paul George, Lance Stephenson, Magnum Rolle, Darren Collison, James PoseyOutgoing Players: Earl Watson, Troy Murphy, Luther HeadTeam Analysis: For the past two seasons, the Pacers have been in the dangerous “good but not great” category, making them one of the most bland and unexciting teams in basketball.The best example of this is in their very own stadium, where the NBA’s finest venue and one of its most dedicated fan bases seem very much split apart.In the beginning of this decade, the Pacers were among one of the NBA’s best teams on a yearly basis only to see the character of some of the guys they brought in result in the team being imploded from the inside-out, and seeing one of the most disturbing crash and burns in NBA history.But the Pacers dedicated themselves to building a team full of good character, marketable guys and now they need to get dedicated to winning.The moves they made this offseason showed there’s at least a direction towards being dedicated to winning.

One of the biggest moves made outside of the max free agents going elsewhere this offseason was the Pacers acquiring Darren Collison in a trade back in August.The result hopefully will be the end to a revolving door at the point guard position for Indiana, who has unsuccessfully tried anyone at that position in recent years, including the uninspiring performances of Earl Watson and T.J. Ford last season.Collison is coming off of a year where he subbed in for all world point guard Chris Paul in New Orleans and did an admirable job: putting up very inspiring numbers, showing consistency on a jump shot that was largely critiqued leading up to his being drafted and being rewarded with a spot on the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team as a result.Also not to be overlooked is the Pacers acquiring James Posey from New Orleans in the same trade.Although Posey’s contract causes people to negatively react towards his play, his personality, experience and play could mean wonders in terms of giving this team an identity or just giving this relatively soft bunch a bit of an attitude.

The Pacers return Danny Granger, fresh off of a first place finish with the USA team in the World Championships, and the improving Roy Hibbert as the main pieces in terms of how they will play this season.Granger still seems a bit one dimensional, but it’s hard to truly evaluate his game until he plays with teammates who he genuinely should defer to in given situations.Hibbert isn’t your typical seven-footer in that he’s not a dominant low post player nor is he even a consistently good player facing the basket.But he’s a solid team defense guy and is a good enough low post player to where teams can’t leave him alone.Although Pacers fans may have thrown their hands up and been dissatisfied with the conduct of second round draft choice Lance Stephenson this offseason, it’s really the most noticeable conduct issue in the past few seasons on a team that was routinely in the news for only that reason.Pacers fans are still a long ways away from being truly happy with their team, but seeing what Larry Bird was able to do with Troy Murphy’s expiring deal in the offseason had to be encouraging.Soon enough, the Pacers will have room to operate as well and then we can officially evaluate Bird’s job as a GM.They’re still further away from that than the optimism created by the Collison trade would indicate, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel for the Pacers.

4) Detroit PistonsIncoming Players: Greg Monroe, Terrico White, Vernon Hamilton, Tracy McGradyOutgoing Players: Chucky Atkins, Kwame BrownTeam Analysis: After six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, two NBA Finals appearances and one NBA Championship from a largely successful run for Detroit, the Pistons made the decision a couple of years ago to blow up the roster.Since then, the Pistons have undergone two head coaching changes, seen their win total drop from 59 to 39 to 27, and have only Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell remaining from that 2008 team that made its sixth and final trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.When the Pistons made their initial decision to shake up the roster, much was made about the possibility of them being players in this past summer’s free agent market.However, Joe Dumars spent the majority of that cleared cap space last offseason, being proactive in the acquisitions of players like Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.The results, however, were not very promising.Gordon and Villanueva both showed a lot of their bad qualities over the course of the season, and huge improvements need to be made by both players if the Pistons want to be competitive this season.

Stuckey is entering a make or break season this year with the Pistons, as is probably coach John Kuester.Both have been praised for their performances in supporting roles, although neither have done extraordinary when much is asked of them.In Kuester’s case, the Pistons could have been justified in firing him after only one season (they had just done so to Michael Curry in 2009 after a much better season than last year’s) but Dumars felt that Kuester’s potential and continuity would serve the team well this offseason.While a lot of teams made huge roster overhauls this offseason, including two very publicized teams in Chicago and Milwaukee in their own division, the Pistons are banking that a continued year of growth and development will go a long way in determining their success this season.Much of that is reliant on Rodney Stuckey, the player who once made Chauncey Billups expendable.Stuckey has been largely inconsistent, but the team still remains committed to seeing him succeed in Detroit.

But the Pistons roster is still divided between players who are young and promising, and players who are old and declining.Some could see that as a nice bridging of the gap.I feel that’d be a better sell had the team not just won 27 games last season.The move to acquire Tracy McGrady this offseason probably does nothing to dispel the confusion in regards to Detroit’s roster, but the Pistons are hoping he can recover from his knee injuries to play a solid role at both backup guard positions.There’s also confusion on what kind of team the Pistons will be.After a unusually porous performance from the team’s defense last season, Dumars promised better results this year, but they return a lot of the same players.We still don’t’ know if a lot of their players can fully succeed in a half court system either. There are a lot of questions In Detroit; frankly, too many to say with any certainty how they’ll perform next season.Optimists will point to last year’s injuries, pessimists will point to the contradicting roster moves in terms of players brought in, and the players ability to fit the team philosophy.A lot is on the line this season in Detroit, and change will be on their horizon if they don’t get better and do so soon.

5) Cleveland CavaliersIncoming Players: Christian Eyenga, Joey Graham, Ryan Hollins, Ramon SessionsOutgoing Players: LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Delonte West, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Sebastian Telfair,Team Analysis: No team was more largely affected by this offseason than Cleveland.After two straight seasons of having the NBA’s best record and failing to reach the NBA Finals in either season, Mike Brown was fired as the team’s head coach, and after a very public flirtation with Tim Floyd (who turned the job down due to LeBron James’ uncertain status with the team), settled for former coach of the year Byron Scott.Scott has been at the helm for two very impressive roster turnarounds in New Jersey and New Orleans and he’s about to be at the helm for another.Because Cleveland had spent so much towards being competitive the past couple of seasons, role players like Anthony Parker, Anderson Vareajo and Mo Williams are now average shooters and average defenders, overpaid hustle-type guys and shooters who really aren’t comfortable in the lead role.That doesn’t bode well for Cleveland entering this season.Add to the fact that LeBron’s departure has placed the whole city of Cleveland in a noticeable funk, and you may have a recipe for disaster this season.

Mo Williams, fresh off of a public pity party which included him admitting that he recently contemplated retirement, returns as Cleveland’s best player.He disappeared in both postseasons with the team and has been justifiably criticized for those faults.He and Antawn Jamison are the only players on the team that have shown they can carry the load on offense and contribute on a nightly basis.Only problem is, neither has done so for a good squad and both should be the subject of trade rumors all season.The Cavaliers hope that improvements from players like J.J. Hickson and incoming rookie Christian Eyenga will be bright spots for the coming seasons for the team.But with so much uncertainty regarding those players, it’s foolish to assume they’ll reach their maximum potential this season.

Cleveland has been vocal in bracing for a youth movement, which is fine if the team has much youth to turn over the new leaf.Unfortunately, they don’t.They’re still a team of players that were brought in to win now and a few nice guys who can keep you competitive on a given night.But the departure of LeBron James will be felt in the team morale, the attendance figures and, most of all, the on court production.Cleveland is still a few seasons from removing themselves from the mess that was this offseason, and it will be a slow process.It’s very possible Cleveland could find themselves right back in the bottom of the league this season.In fact, some will say that’s in the best interest of the team moving forward.With the whole city of Cleveland being personified by Mo Williams’ public cries for sympathy, it’s unlikely to expect much fire and retaliation from this bunch.

I figured since I didn't do a playoff preview this season for each team as I did last year, I'll do a fun little countdown to this year's draft, since that's where my team is going to be instead of the postseason. Well we're getting down to the nitty gritty now in terms of the countdown. With only three drafts remaining, I went into a lot of due diligence to research and review each draft before putting in this submission. I feel as if I was wrong in a few of my early seedings in this draft and I wanted to really try as hard as possible to make the top five as acurate as I feel it could be. I think I've done that now. Coming in at number 3 in our countdown is the 2004 NBA Draft which actually featured a hot pre-draft debate on who would be drafted number one and a pretty good group of players in general. So here goes it loyal readers, number 3 on our countdown!

Not a bad group of guys coming in at the top ten. Going into the draft, it was largely rumored that Orlando would take established college star Emeka Okafor and that the expansion Charlotte Bobcats would take high schooler Dwight Howard and they'd grow as a franchise and player together. However, Orlando felt Dwight's talents were too good to pass up and they eventually made the right choice. Howard has become an perennial all star in this league and is already a two time Defensive Player of the Year award winner and already the best center in the league. Okafor, meanwhile, has turned out a nice little defensive career himself, although he's nowhere near the caliber player that Howard is. Ben Gordon took the league by storm his rookie season, showing explosive offensive talents and eventually becoming the first rookie in NBA history to win the Sixth Man of the Year award. Livingston was viewed as some to be the "next Magic Johnson" when he was coming out of high school. A great athlete with fantastic court vision, Livingston actually struggled to put together consistent stretches of success before severely injuring his knee in his third season in the league. After going up for a routine layup, Livingston landed awkwardly and tore the ACL, PCL and the lateral meniscus while badly spraining his MCL and dislocating his patella and tibia-femoral joint. He has struggled to stay in the league since, but he showed some late signs this season in Washington and will probably get another look there next season. Harris was a lightning quick guard out of college and became a nice change of pace for Dallas during the year they went to the NBA Finals. He eventually struggled over a definitive role in Mavericks coach Avery Johnson's system, and he was eventually traded to the Nets where he became an all star. Childress was a really solid player for his four years in Atlanta, and started a short fad in the 2008 offseason that consisted of average NBA players going to play overseas for big money. He may return to the NBA in due time, though. Luol Deng has shown a lot of promise in his short career with the Bulls, but injuries and inconsistencies haven't allowed him to truly take that next step, and there's still some resentment towards the Bulls management giving him a big contract instead of Gordon, who eventually left to go play for the rival Detroit Pistons. Aaraujo was a horrible bust from the very beginning, as Toronto was criticized for drafting by need and reaching for a player who was projected as a mid to late first round pick. Araujo was lost out on the court and was out of the league by 2007. The same can be said for Luke Jackson, a really solid scorer in college who was looked to be a coveted three point shooter for Cleveland. However, Jackson couldn't do much other than shoot and never got on the court. He last played in the NBA in 2007 as well. The Sixers found a nice player at 9 in Iguodala. A freakish athlete in college, he's been able to develop a semblance of a jump shot (even if he relies way too much on it) and is the current face of the 76ers franchise.

As you can tell, by this draft, the whole concept of jumping from high school to the pros had become quite the phenomenon, as by the top 20, eight players that were drafted were high school seniors. Biedrins, not being one of them, has become a nice player for Golden State, fitting in perfectly with their system although he seemed to take a major step back this season due to some serious confidence issues. But he has the ability to overcome those. Robert Swift continued Seattle's trend of "draft a center and see what happens," and nothing happened. He was constantly injured and never showed much promise when on the court in the first place. Telfair was a lauded prospect coming out of school and his family ties to Stephon Marbury and friendship with LeBron James created a stir over his potential talents. However, he's never been able to stay in a rotation and has struggled thus far in his NBA career. Humphries has managed to stay in the league as a nice hustle player and is currently playing for hte Nets. Al Jefferson showed some promise in Boston and was eventually the centerpiece in the trade that brought Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. He's become a great scorer for the Timberwolves but not much more and has suffered with injuries of his own the last two years. Snyder was a fantastic athlete who had a good year with the Hornets following his rookie season with the Jazz, but fizzled out of the league by 2008 and is now serving a three year jail sentence for a home invasion. Josh Smith took awhile to put all of his talents together, but the hometown Atlantan has become one of the most exciting players in the league and a nice building block of the future for Atlanta. J.R. Smith had a terrific second half to his rookie season in New Orleans, but quickly clashed with coach Byron Scott and was traded to Chicago for Tyson Chandler. Chicago then immediately traded him to Denver, where he's shown flashes of being a terrific scorer but is still every bit the immature head case he was for his two years with the Hornets. It's taking awhile, but Wright just may be coming into his own as a nice reserve rotation player for the Heat. Nelson, meanwhile, was the college player of the year and his story of falling down in the draft clashed with the number of high school players that were being chosen. Nelson eventually ended up with Orlando where he became their starting point guard and has since emerged into an all star player.

It was pretty cool to see three consecutive Russian players drafted in the first round. However, not one of the Russians turned out memorable careers. Podkolzin only played six games in two seasons with the Mavericks and was out of the league by 2006 while Khryapa and didn't fare much better. Khryapa became a starter in Portland by his second season, but was then traded to Chicago and was out of the league by 2008. Monia continued the hat trick and only played 26 games in the NBA before expressing a desire to return overseas after not cracking a rotation in the NBA. West and Allen became nice players for Boston during their short time there. West showed a penchant for coming up in clutch situations and his versatility at either guard position has allowed him to become a nice role player for Cleveland. Meanwhile, Allen's defense and athletic ability have allowed him to stay in Boston (even through their bad years where they got rid of, almost, everybody) and he's become a great reserve for a solid team this season. Martin was an explosive scorer in college and has become the exact same in the NBA, although injuries have limited his effectiveness the last two seasons. Vujacic was a wild shooter who struggled his first three seasons in the leauge, finally put it all together in 2008 (a contract year) and was resigned to a big deal, and has now gone back to struggling. Udrih struggled to stay on the court for San Antonio and eventually wound up in Sacramento, where he's found a home as the team's starting point guard the last seasons. Harrison was another really talented prospect, but his off the court issues and immaturity were a theme for some troubled Pacers teams at the time and he was out of the league by 2008.

A couple of really solid second rounders here. Varejao has become a really popular player in Cleveland and, even if overpaid, is an important rotation player for some successful Cleveland teams the last few seasons. Ivey is a defensive point guard who's managed to stay in the league thus far and even started some for Atlanta. Duhon was a great back up in Chicago but struggled when given starter's minutes in New York. His future in the league is uncertain. Meanwhile, Ariza struggled to stay on the court in New York and Orlando due to injuries and inconsistency, but was eventually traded to the Lakers where he struggled with injuries again before becoming the team's starting small forward when they won the championship in 2009. He parlayed that into a nice contract with the Houston Rockets, where he's currently their starting small forward.

I mention Wilkins because he's managed to stay in the league thus far. Nephew of NBA Legend Dominique Wilkins, Damien has stuck in the rotation for some playoff teams in Seattle and is still playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves today.

It all started with us running to wal mart to buy tuna fish and bottled water. It ended with us cursing the Lakers and Cavaliers and those darn puppets. The years 2000 to 2010 were full of exciting basketball, break through players and broken hearts. Scandal erupted when it was discovered that an NBA official was found gambling on games that he was officiating. Fans were dazzled for Michael Jordan's return to the NBA when he donned the Washington Wizards jersey. A city was revived in 2008 when the Boston Celtics landed Kevin Garnett and returned to the NBA's elite. With so much happening, it was pretty difficult to narrow down what awards I was going to give and who or what I would give them to. But all in all, I'm pleased with it so here goes: GoHornets21's NBA End of the Decade Awards.

Player of the Decade - Tim Duncan - When the Spurs lucked out and drafted Tim Duncan in 1997, I'm sure few envisioned that the very next season the team would win its first championship in franchise history. That's how special Tim Duncan is. Entering the decade, Duncan suffered a hyperextension in his knees on the road to defending his championship in the 2000 season, and Greg Popovich made the controversial decision to rest Tim for the 2000 postseason and the Spurs quickly lost in the first round. A move like that would probably be routinely criticized in today's scrutinizing age, but it allowed Duncan to rehab and heal on his own time and the Spurs reaped the benefits. The team would never win less than 50 games, was able to bring in pieces and jettison players at a rapid rate while building completely around Duncan. He won the NBA MVP award in 2002 and 2003. He brought home three NBA Championships this decade and was named NBA Finals MVP for two of those championships, in 2003 and 2005. He won a Bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics but always stayed loyal to his coach, to his team and to a city that adores him. Last season's loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round was the Spurs first first round defeat since Duncan did not play in the 2000 postseason. That's insane consistency and it's all because of the player of the decade, Tim Duncan.2nd Place - Kobe Bryant3rd Place - Shaquille O'Neal

Team of the Decade - Los Angeles Lakers - Let's face facts, the first champions of this decade were the 2000 Los Angeles Lakers. The last champions of the decade? The 2009 Los Angeles Lakers. A lot happened in Lakerland this decade, from the initial three peat, to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant's continued spats, to O'Neal being traded to Miami, to Phil Jackson retiring, to the tough losing season, to Phil returning, to the two consecutive first round exits, to Kobe pubicly demanding to be traded, to Pau Gasol winding up in their laps and culminating in last year's title. It was a fantastic voyage for Los Angeles, who won four championships this decade in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2009, and the made the finals two other seasons in 2004 and 2008. They routinely defeated the closest challenger for team of the decade, the San Antonio Spurs, when the team's would square off in the postseason, with Duncan and company only beating the Lakers in the 2003 semifinals. Through it all, Kobe Bryant was celebrated, jeered, villifed and eventually dignified when he won a championship in 2009. Through it all, the Lakers were always either the team you loved to hate, or the team that everybody was hitchin' their bandwagon to. And that's why they win the team of the decade.2nd Place - San Antonio Spurs3rd Place - Detroit Pistons

Team of the Decade (in a season) - the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics - Entering the 2007 offseason, the Celtics were a team with a very storied past but with a rocky recent few seasons. Coming off a ridiculously bad 2006-2007 season, Paul Pierce openly accepted the possibility of being traded from the only team he's ever played for, and Doc Rivers was viewed across the board as someone who just couldn't coach. Looking at it now, those would stand as blasphemous statements now. But that's was widely accepted percepetion then. Then the team tried to pry Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were looking to trade their superstar to begin their rebuilding process. Garnett initiall refused to go to Boston and the deal looked dead. But when the Celtics pulled off a draft day trade to land Ray Allen in a Boston uniform, Garnett changed his mind, and Boston still had enough pieces to convince Minnesota to trade Garnett and the Big Three became the hysteria of the league. Coming into the season with all kinds of expectations, the Celtics would fill their roster with unwanted veterans like James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell and Eddie House and would start young, unproven players such as Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins at point guard and center to stand alongside the Big Three. What happened was some of the best basketball of the decade. The Celtics accepted all expectations and soon exceeded them. They would start off the season hot and never look back. With Garnett winning the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year award, the Celtics would be transformed into a defensive juggernaut, almost impossible to score against and extremely efficient on the offensive end. They would survive a scare from the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the postseason and then survive an equally scary Cleveland Cavaliers team in the semifinals, before convincingly defeating their arch rivals all season long, the Detroit Pistons in the Conference finals and then the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. 2nd Place - 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers3rd Place - 2002-2003 San Antonio Spurs

Rivalry of the Decade - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings - If you were alive during and thriving in basketball during the early portion of this decade, you were enthralled by the Lakers and Kings rivalry. They had an Southern California vs. Northern California hatred for one another. They were both finesse teams that could really play some exciting basketball. They both had terrific coaches in Phil Jackson and Rick Adelman, and one team always beat the other. The early Sacramento Kings, espcially the 2002 Sacramento Kings, are easily the best teams I've ever seen that didn't win a championship. Led by Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby, there would be on court fights, off court ridicule and constant playoff matchups with the Lakers for the Kings that would eventually force Sacramento's hand in dismantling the team. Whether it be the classic seven game 2002 Western Conference Semifinals, the classic slugfest between Doug Christie and Rick Fox or Shaq's classic boast that "Los Angeles is the new capital of California", this rivalry had everything you could ever want. Not only was it two teams that detested eachother, it was two wonderfully talented teams that hated eachother and would routinely put on some of the best basketball of the decade.2nd Place - San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns3rd Place - Detroit Pistons vs. Indiana Pacers

Fans of the Deace - the Portland Trail Blazers - The Rose Garden has always been an exciting place to watch an NBA Basketball game. The fans in Portland truly embrace and love their franchise and have for a very long time. When the Trail Blazers suffered early success in the beginning part of this decade, they truly were a fantastic group of fans who supported their team. When things got rough with off court problems, the fans let their frustrations be known, and the Trail Blazers were eventually forced to follow public desire and shed the "Jail Blazers" monicker. Through it all, the Rose Garden was routinely sold out and finally became the place to watch basketball again in 2007, when the new Brandon Roy led Blazers burst onto the scene.2nd Place - Sacramento Kings3rd Place - Utah Jazz

Upset of the Decade - the Detroit Pistons over the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals - Coming into the 2003-2004 season, the Lakers were a team that already had won three championships and had Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal manning down the roster. In the offseason, the team added veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton, both eager to win a championship and both future hall of famers as well. A lot was made of the Lakers four eventual Hall of Famers on one roster, and the team overcame injuries and Kobe's sexual assault allegations to peak in the postseason and take their rightful spot in the NBA Finals. Over in the Eastern Conference, a solid team with a coach who never could win the big one played solid basketball all season long, acquired Rasheed Wallace at midseason and looked poised to make a nice run in the postseason as well. When they eventually made the NBA Finals, not a snowball's chance in the Devil's residence was given to Detroit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. What followed was one of the most convincing five game victories in NBA postseason history. After taking game 1 in convincing fashion, the Lakers would need late game heroics by Kobe Bryant to steal game 2 away from the Pistons. But when the series shifted to Detroit for the next three games, the fantastic Detroit fans and the cohesive Pistons unit routinely thumped the Lakers and would win all three games in Detroit to take the NBA Finals in five games.2nd Place - Golden State Warriors over the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 Western Conference First Round3rd Place - Chicago Bulls over the Miami Heat in the 2007 Eastern Conference First Round

Playoff Series of the Decade - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings in the 2002 Western Conference Finals - As documented earlier, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings hated eachother. Largely, the Kings were viewed as a soft team incapable of beating Los Angeles. But they acquired Mike Bibby in the 2001 offseason and won home court advantage throughout the postseason and looked as poised as ever to finally defeat their arch nemisis. After the Lakers shocked the Kings in game 1 at Arco Arena, all of the ghosts and skeltons came out of Sacramento's closets and things looked bad for the Kings. But then the Kings would take back game 2 and then win game 3 at Staples Center in convincing fashion. With a 2-1 lead, the Kings entered the pivotal game 4 focused and ready to take full advantage of the series. With the lead late, the Lakers through up a myriad of attempts to take the lead but were unable to, when the ball was tipped out to Robert Horry who hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history at the buzzer to give the Lakers the win and to tie the series at 2-2. Even with their spirits hurting, the Kings were resilient in winning game 5. Game 6 will be forever covered in mystery over whether or not the referees intentionally gave the Lakers the victory as was hinted by Tim Donaghy, but the Lakers used those free throws to their advantage and took game 6 at home. This set up the fantastic game 7 in Arco Arena, where the Kings had every opportunity to win the game but uncharacteristically missed free throw after free throw, allowing the game to go into overtime where the Lakers eventually won. The Kings never reached the conference finals again that decade and eventually jettisoned Chris Webber, then Peja Stojakovic, then Mike Bibby before entering the rebuilding stage that they're in now.2nd Place - Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals3rd Place - San Antonio Spurs vs. Detroit Pistons in the 2005 NBA Finals

Steal of the Decade - Los Angeles Lakers receive Pau Gasol and a 2010 2nd Round draft pick from the Memphis Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol and 1st Round draft picks in 2008 and 2010 - At the time of this trade, Lakers franchise center Andrew Bynum had just gone down to a knee injury and was done for the season. After not making it out of the first round of the playoffs the previous three seasons, the Lakers looked stuck in mediocrity before they pulled off the trade of the decade. Seeing Memphis desperate to unload Pau's contract and begin rebuilding. The Lakers were all so eager to give the Grizzlies cap relief in Brown and McKie, a young guard in Crittenton and a promising prospect in Pau's brother Marc. Along with some 1st round draft picks that will wind up being in the late 20s, the Lakers were able to get their second star to Kobe Bryant and immediately took off. They have been to the NBA Finals both seasons with Gasol on the roster and are favored to do it again this year.2nd Place - Boston Celtics receive Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, cash considerations and two 2009 1st Round Draft Picks3rd Place - Portland Trail Blazers receive draft rights to Brandon Roy from Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA for the draft rights to Randy Foye and also receive draft rights to LaMarcus Aldridge and a conditional 2nd Round Draft Pick from the Chicago Bulls of the NBA for Viktor Khryapa and the draft rights to Tyrus Thomason the same night; 2006 Draft night

Blunder of the Decade - Chicago Bulls sign Ben Wallace to 4 year, 60 million dollar deal - (taken from my Worst Contracts of the Last Decade blog) A four time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner and even the reigning 2 time DPOY, Ben Wallace entered the 2006 offseason as the prize of a very weak free agent class. A defensive specialist who was always known to give max effort at the center position, the Bulls, looking for a player to hold down the center position and take the team to the next level, gave all of their free cap space to Ben Wallace to lure him away from the Detroit Pistons. Outside of his comfort zone in Chicago, and playing on a team that didn't preach defense like the teams in Detroit did, Ben Wallace severely struggled in Chicago. His numbers went down across the board, his defense slipped and he was exposed big time. Facing expectations for the first time his career, Ben Wallace crumbled under pressure. He was eventually shipped to Cleveland where he started on some successful Cavaliers teams but was never the player he used to be, and the player he used to be had no business making that kind of money. He was eventually traded to Phoenix last offseason and after being bought out by the Suns considered retirement, but Ben has rejoined the Pistons and has found some of his old youth in Detroit. But Ben Wallace still tops the list of the ten worst contracts of the last ten years.2nd Place - Indiana Pacers trade Ron Artest to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic3rd Place - Anything the New York Knicks did during Isiah Thomas' reign.

0-17. That's right; 17 straight losses to begin an NBA Season. The New Jersey Nets have done the unthinkable and joined an elite list in the NBA's illustrious history. Three franchises, only three in the entire history of the NBA, have started off a season with 17 straight losses. No team has lost 18 straight. While the Nets record indicates they'd be among the worst this decade, it's hard to see where they fall with teams of the past few years. So I thought it'd be fun to do a little research and come up with my own list of the ten worst NBA teams of the last decade. Beginning in the 2000-2001 season and concluding last season (which technically only makes it 9 seasons), all teams were candidates for this list. The ten that made it had problems with youth, problems with injuries, problems with coaching, problems with talent, problems with attendance and, obviously, problems with winning. So without further adieu, here's the Ten Worst NBA Teams of the Last Decade.

10. 2006/2007 Boston Celtics (24-58) and the 2007/2008 Minnesota Timberwolves (22-60)Head Coaches - Boston Celtics: Doc Rivers. Minnesota Timberwolves: Randy WittmanLeading Scorers - Boston Celtics: Paul Pierce . Minnesota Timberwolves: Al JeffersonYears In Review - The reason I group these teams together is because at least a handful of players found themselves on both squads as a result of the Kevin Garnett trade. After injuries to Paul Pierce, Tony Allen and company in 2007, frustration fully showed its face in the Boston Garden. After finishing the season with a 24-58 record in 2007 and then missing out on the top pick, which would have londed Boston Greg Oden , the Celtics traded five of their players in order to obtain one from Minnesota: franchise player Kevin Garnett. The players included in that deal (Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes , Sebastian Telfair , Gerald Green and Theo Ratliff ) would go to Minnesota and carry the same amount of inconsistency and agonizing defeat to Minnesota. Jefferson and Gomes are clearly good players, but they're not capable of taking a team and leading it to any kind of respectability. And since more than a handful of players carried the same amount of problems into Minnesota in 2007 that they had developed in Boston, these two teams will forever be joined in terms of NBA ineptitude since the turn of the century.

9. 2008/2009 Washington Wizards (19-63)Head Coaches - Eddie Jordan (1-10) and Ed Tapscott (18-53)Leading Scorer - Antawn JamisonYear in Review - After investing over 100 million dollars to retain star point guard Gilbert Arenas , the Wizards, who were coming off of a 43 win season the year before. looked, at the best, destined to be regulars in the Eastern Conference Playoffs each season. An impressive trio of Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler were supposed to lead the Wizards to success in the Eastern Conference, even though the team had shown no such promise before investing that much money to Jamison and Arenas. Only a few months after handing Arenas that six year contract, the Wizards received word he would be undergoing another knee surgery and would miss, basically, the entire season. Arenas played two games and another of the big three, Caron Butler, also struggled to stay healthy; missing 15 games during the season. Additionally, starting center Brendan Haywood was only available for 6 games that season and things looked bad all season for the Wizards. Having to rely on very raw big men (Andray Blatche , JaVale McGee and Dominic McQuire), very young guards (Nick Young and Javaris Crittenton ) and career journeymen (Darius Songaila , Mike James and Juan Dixon), it's no surprise that the Wizards stumbled their way to an ugly 19 win season. They had the talent of a playoff team, but when you lose your best players, you see just how bad things can get. The Wizards were exhibit A of a top heavy team.

8. 2000/2001 Washington Wizards (19-63)Head Coaches - Leonard Hamilton Leading Scorer - Richard HamiltonYear in Review - In the late 90s, the Wizards were a team with a lot of money invested in a few players but were getting few in return in terms of the win/loss column. After only one playoff appearance (in 1996/97), the Wizards looked ready to shake things up. For a few seasons they were an old, mediocre team. In 2000/2001, they became a team that imploded. Rod Strickland, Mitch Richmond and Juwan Howard all began the year as a big three for Washington, but Strickland and Howard ended the year in different locations. The team was led by a head coach, Hamilton, who was a personal hire for then head of basketball operations Michael Jordan. Hamilton could barely control the roster, famously being cussed out by Tyrone Nesby when Hamilton took Nesby out of the game. The Wizards were an ugly display of basketball on the court all season long and, the very next year, Michael Jordan would take off the sport coat and put on the cape. When the consecutive 37 win seasons that followed were considered a success, it shows how bad things had gotten in Washington; concluding with this 2000/2001 team.

7. 2005/2006 New York Knicks (23-59)Head Coach - Larry BrownLeading Scorer - Stephon MarburyYear in Review - Trying desperately to recapture respectability, the Knicks handed Isiah Thomas the keys to the franchise in 2008. He followed that up by making a plethora of moves to bring in all kinds of new players in an attempt to shake up the New York franchise. While it initially ended in a playoff appearance for the Knicks in 2004, the Knicks quickly looked like a makeshift team thrown together in an attempt at a quick fix with no real plans for the future. Isiah then pulled out the ace of spades and hired the coach who would take the Knicks back to respectability: Larry Brown. With Brown at the helm, pundits and fans alike immediately predicted big improvements for a Knicks franchise that looked very discombobulated the year before. What ensued was an insanely ugly season in the city that never sleeps. Brown immediately clashed with Stephon Marbury and the Knicks actually regressed, losing eleven more games than they had the previous year. Brown bashed the team publicly, looked very uninterested as the season wore on and would eventually be fired in the offseason. With insane money being given to a recently retired Alan Houston (20 million), Stephon Marbury (17 million), Jalen Rose (16 million), Steve Francis (14 million), Maurice Taylor (9 million), Eddy Curry (8 million), Quentin Richardson (7 million), Jerome James (5 million), Jamaal Crawford (7 million), and Malike Rose (7 million), the Knicks were officially a severely bad NBA team that was spending an insanely bad amount of money.

6. 2007/2008 Miami Heat (15-67)Head Coach - Pat RileyLeading Scorer - Dwyane WadeYear In Review - When your leading scorer for the season only plays 51 games, things are more than likely going to be tough for your franchise. The fact that this team was only two years removed from an NBA championship made things incredibly worse. Entering the season with the duo of Wade and Shaquille O'Neal still on the roster, few could have predicted the futility and agony that would be bestowed upon Miami Heat fans the next season. With starters Udonis Haslem , Jason Williams , Wade and O'Neal missing a major amount of time early in the season, the Heat were immediately far behind schedule in terms of success. To make matters worse, because big things were anticipated for the Heat that season, they were regulars on national television and fans were forced to watch the putrid display of basketball put on by the squad. Even when the Heat traded O'Neal for Shawn Marion , a player who had stayed relatively healthy his entire career, even if caught the injury bug and missed a majority of his time with the Heat. At the end of the year, only Ricky Davis played in all 82 games for Miami. But with Davis, Mark Blount , Daequan Cook and Chris Quinn becoming regulars in Miami's rotation, the losses piled up. Mercifully, Wade would be healthy the next season and Miami would make the playoffs. But that season remains a painful one to observe for NBA fans alike.

5. 2000/2001 Golden State Warriors (17-65)Head Coach - Dave CowensLeading Scorer - Antawn JamisonYear in Review - Entering the year with really past their prime players like Mookie Blaylock and John Starks still on the roster, Golden State was quickly becoming a regular among the bottom of the NBA. Things would peak, though, in the 2000/2001 season for the Warriors in terms of futility. Antawn Jamison was still a young player, currently in his third season, but the rest of the team around him was not producing at all. Midseason trades for Larry Hughes and Bob Sura were made with intentions fo building for the future, but things were really bad all season long. With Blaylock, Adam Keefe, Erick Dampier , Adonal Foyle , Chris Porter and Vonteego Cummings**** becoming regulars in the Golden State rotation, things were tough for the fans in the Oracle. Things would eventually get bright in Golden State for a couple of seasons, but unfortunately for one of the better fan bases in the NBA, things are tough again in San Francisco.

4. 2002/2003 Denver Nuggets (17-65)Head Coach - Jeff BzdelikLeading Scorer - Juwan HowardYear in Review - Similar to the situation above, the Nuggets were a consistently mediocre NBA franchise by the time the 2002/2003 season came along. Similar to the situation above, things peaked in a negative way in 2003 when the Denver Nuggets only won 17 games. After a trade in the offseason for Marcus Camby and rookie Nene Hilario, the Nuggets were expected to make more of a push towards respectability than had previously been experienced in Denver. However, injuries to Camby quickly followed and the Nuggets became a really bad team really fast. Players like Mark Bryant, Junior Harrington, Ryan Bowen, Rodney White, Donnell Harvey, Nikoloz Tskitishvilli and Vincent Yarbrouugh (I had to look that up) were receing heavy minutes in Denver's rotation. Top to bottom, this is a tough looking roster that really could not score (84.2 PPG). Carmelo Anthony would follow, however, and the Nuggets luck would change just one season later.

3. 2004/2005 New Orleans Hornets (18-64)Head Coach - Byron ScottLeading Scorer - Lee NailonYear in Review - Going into the 2004 season, the Hornets had been a regular in the NBA postseason. Although they were entering the Western Conference, they had been to the finals 7 of their previous 8 years. However, it was becoming increasingly evident that the team as constructed was not going to win a championship. For Hornets fans, the incredibly bad 2004/2005 season began. With new head coach Byron Scott and general manager Jeff Bower leading the way, the Hornets underwent an incredibly swift rebuilding process and shed contracts of Baron Davis , David Wesley, Darrell Armstrong and Jamal Mashburn along the season. The Hornets other all star player, Jamaal Magloire , was only available for 26 games. As a result of all the trades, the team was regularly led by Lee Nailon, Bostjan Nachbar, Dan Dickau, Casey Jacobsen, Chris Andersen , Jackson Vroman, Maciej Lampe and a rookie J.R. Smith . Not surprisingly, wins weren't regular in the Crescent City. P.J. Brown was the only Hornet to play in all 82 games and the Hornets consistently played in front of some of the smallest crowds in recent memory. In the offseason, Hurricane Katrina would hit New Orleans and things could have gotten much worse for the franchise. But they drafted Chris Paul , got David West healthy and made a quick turnaround to respectability.

2. 2004/2005 Atlanta Hawks (13-69)Head Coach - Mike WoodsonLeading Scorer - Al HarringtonYear in Review - The Hawks were regulars at the bottom of the league every year at the beginning of the decade. It was a slow, painful process and things looked bleak for many years in Atlanta. After hiring new coach Mike Woodson, drafting Josh Childress and Josh Smith , and trading for Al Harrington, the Hawks were now looking for plan A, B, C, D or E at the time to try and turn things around. It didn't work. Harrington responded with career highs in scoring and rebounding, but the team was completely bad, losing games by an average of 10 PPG. The Hawks would acquire Tyronn Lue during the season and subtract Jon Barry, Kevin Willis and Kenny Anderson during the year but the defeats remained. In the offseason, the Hawks would acquire Joe Johnson for Boris Diaw and would start the process to becoming the much better team that they are now. But for those few years, and especially this season, the Hawks were regulars among the worst teams in the NBA.

1. 2002/2003 Cleveland Cavaliers (17-65)Head Coach - John Lucas (8-34), Keith Smart (9-31)Leading Scorer - Ricky DavisYear in Review - As is regular in this countdown, Cleveland was a consistently bad franchise for a number of years entering the 2002/2003 NBA season. Things weren't promising at all entering the 2002 season for the Cavs, but they did get worse really fast in Cleveland. With Davis and Zydrunas Ilgauskas leading the way, the Cavaliers consistently turned the ball over, got blown out, played horrid defense and played in front of some horribly empty crowds at the Gund Arena. No transactions were really made throughout the season, no real rebuilding moves were made, a coaching change happened but the same team produced the same bad results all season long. Rookie Dajuan Wagner showed some promise but only played in 47 games. Meanwhile, rookie Carlos Boozer , Jumaine Jones, Darius Miles, Smush Parker, Chris Mihm and Milt Polacio got heavy minutes in Cleveland and none of them were capable of changing pace. The season was awfully bad but was quickly forgotten when Cleveland landed the number one pick and drafted LeBron James in the offseason. But that season was a horrible one to watch for Cleveland fans and one that's only forgotten because of the talent of James.

I started a thread today on the Derrick Rose situation in Memphis and this current situation heightens my argument that the NBA Age Limit is entirely unecessary. I did not originally post this first part as a blog, but I evaluated the NBA age limit in a post on February 4th of this year. So I'm going to start off with that and leg that thread segway into the current Derrick Rose problem.

"With the 56th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons select Amir Johnson." And that was it. No longer were men under the age of 19 allowed to play in the NBA. Amir Johnson holds the distinction of being the last high school player ever to be selected in the NBA's illustrious history. The NBA draft has brought in many a fine high school selections: Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal (he once was really good), Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (just to name a few). But people also will point at players such as Kwame Brown, Shaun Livingston and Sebastian Telfair and point out the character flaws and halt in progression of their game. But how exactly does the NBA's age limit hold up? This all needs to be taken a serious look at.

Amar'e Stoudemire is one of the most talented players in the league. When he was injured for the Suns 2005-2006 season, he spent a majority of it away from the team and gathered a lot of resentment from teammates as a result of it. This season, he's constantly bickered about his role in an offense that's faltering and would spend more time talking about how awful the team is doing rather than doing anything about it on the court. I look at a player like Stoudemire and his maturity level and can't help but think maybe a little bit of college seasoning would have done wonders for his game. His personality and character will never match his potential on the court. He'll always be solid, but he'll never be great. But would he have been great simply by spending a year in college?

What exactly has college done for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant? They still entered the league as underdevloped, still maturing (both mentally and physically) players who were given a few years to progress. Does one year necessarily do the trick? Was Oden's one year at Ohio State enough to make him the first overall pick in the draft? Most would say he had that spot sewn up for whenever he decided to declare. However, the NBA's rule disallowed Oden and Durant, two legal adults, from being able to persue a career. Therein lies the problem.

It's very difficult to determine the maturity of a person and whether or not he or she is ready to contribute to an NBA franchise. But let's face facts here, players are signed out of high school in baseball all the time. All of us are able to leave high school and get a job in whatever field we want, in many cases we could latch onto fortune 500 companies as interns and with the right motivation and knowledge of the business elevate to six figure salaries in a half decade. What the NBA has essentially done is denied players their right to provide for their families and making a living for themselves. What justification can the NBA provide for denying players at 18 a right to make a living by basis of their maturity, but then simply allow them in at 19? Is the one year that much of a progression in character for the NBA? Is that one year in college going to allow that person to tap into their potential and immediately contribute, as opposed to what would happen if they left high school early?

Let's not be foolish here. This is all about marketing. By forcing these players to enter college for at least one season, the NBA allows these players to garner recognition on the college scale, develop fan bases beyond their hometowns or wherever the location of the franchise that selects him is, and also is able to pick and choose which players they want to endorse and put as a face for the league. Greg Oden was the future of the NBA before he ever played a single game. His exposure at Ohio State put a face on the name, and once the season was over the NBA went full speed on promoting someone who was now a household name.

The NBA also might try and put a spin on it and say that it's "immoral" to give these kids so much money so soon in their lives, but let's not pretend that perks and side money don't exist in the college ranks. What business did Kevin Durant, a kid from Washington D.C., have going to Austin to play college basketball? The Longhorns have a mighty fine basketball program, but they're not top tier level and shouldn't realistically have much appeal to a kid from the northeast. Furthermore, how exactly did a college freshman with no job on record obtain consistent front row tickets to San Antonio Spurs games? Do you think he donned an apron at a fast food joint and worked for that treat? Highly unlikely.

Not only that, forcing these players to attend college takes away a degree from someone with realistic hopes of obtaining a bachelors degree. Someone who wants to play sports for four years and move on to a more established career is now no longer allowed to because so many people are going to college for one year just to get noticed and serve out the one year commitment for the NBA (at least O.J. Mayo was honest about it). In the two drafts prior to the age limit put on entrees into the NBA draft, twenty one players from high school were drafted by NBA franchises. In the three years after the rule was put into effect, twenty one college freshman were drafted by NBA franchises. You tell me, what difference is this rule really making?

Is it allowing players with questionable maturity (Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett to name a couple) grow up? Or is it simply prolonging a player's declaration for the NBA draft, preventing those serious about college from obtaining scholarships and furthering a school's chances of being exposed for under the table deals being cut (ala USC with O.J. Mayo, who was very outspoken about not wanting to attend college).

I admit that going to school for at least two or three seasons would do everyone some good. But if the players don't want to go, what are the possibilities that they're going to take that one year of education very serious? For them, their college careers begin and end with the spring semester. We need to stop putting lipstick on a pig, admit that it's a pig, and quit pretending that this age limit is doing anything to better the product of the NBA or college basketball.

Originally posted on June 2nd, 2009

Let me start this off by disclaiming that I am currently a college junior and believe that anybody can succeed in school with effort and dedication. Now that I got that out of the way, I genuinely feel for Derrick Rose. Earlier this year I did an article stating that the NBA's age limit is going to cause problems, such as when we saw Kevin Durant, as a college freshman with no job on record, showing up in the front row at Spurs games. I noted that immaturity from players like Kevin Garnett and Amar'e Stoudemire and all of the failed stories are probably the reason why the implemented the age limit, but I forecasted problems ahead because you're making these players go to college when they don't want to.

O.J. Mayo is a prime example. He openly stated he didn't want to go and only went for one year. As a result, he now has USC in trouble because of his involvment with an agent and as a result of Mayo's actions, as a result of someone who was forced to go to that school when they did not want to, people who genuinely want to or have to play in college are going to have to play under sanctions or, in Memphis' case, have their accomplishments stricken from the record as a result of David Stern.

Derrick Rose is a great player. He seems like a good person. He's never been a fluent speaker but Jalen Rose went to school for three years at Michigan and listening to him analyze is like listening to an 11 year old casual fan talk about basketball. But I was dissapointed when I heard the rumors that he now is under scrutiny for his actions regarding a scandal at the University of Memphis. Rumors have it that Rose's grades were altered by an unknown perpetrator and that someone stood in for him at his SAT. I'm sure John Calipari or someone in the Memphis program knew of Rose's shortcomings as a student and set all of this up to get him into their school. Coaches like Calipari love this one year rule because it allows him to rack up wins and, given his track record, he's willing to do anything to get these players on his squad.

However, Derrick Rose is the one who's facing all the problems now, not Calipari, because of these rumors and allegations that have trickeled down to him. Rose does not deserve any of this. He most likely would have decared for the 2007 NBA Draft if high schoolers were allowed to, and I believe that his shortcomings as a student and inability to pass classes should not be translated into him being a bad person. I'm sure Derrick Rose is a good person, but now he will have to deal with these allegations for the rest of his life. The media will always bring it up, opposing fans will tease him for it, and all this because David Stern said these players have to go to college for one season.

I'm going to college to become a high school basketball coach. If someone told me I had to spend one year outside of my element, say in a autopsy laborator, to become that basketball coach, even though the autopsy lab has nothing to do with what I'm going to do with the rest of my life, I would be irate. Not only am I being forced into a situation that I did not choose, these players openly do not care about college. Is that the right attitude? No, that's not a great mentality to have. But you cannot blame Rose for not being a great student because he was being forced to go to college in the first place.

Derrick Rose is now a victim of David Stern's ridiculous age limit and I envision he, O.J. Mayo and others to only be the beginning of many troubled college programs and players as a result of this ridiculous sanction placed on eighteen year olds who have a right to make a living in any other job field.

I just think it's a shame that someone who was forced to go into an evironment is now going to be ridiculed for life as a result of his needing help in that environment. John Calipari and Memphis are as much to blame as the NBA because they allowed it all to go down instead of doing it the right away, but does David Stern genuinely believe that these college programs will do it the right way? How many retired NBA players have admitted to the gifts and benefits they've received as college stars? How many AAU coaches miraculously wind up as assistant coaches at these big school just so they can lure one of their formers to players to the said university? David Stern is going to tarnish the game of college basketball because he's forcing kids to go there.

Derrick Rose was an eighteen year old high school graduate. Not everybody who graduated high school with us was wise enough for college. That doesn't make them bad people. I know a guy who couldn't succeed in any area of college yet makes more money than I ever coulrd because he went to a technical school and is a genius with computer. Derrick Rose went to college to play basketball because David Stern told him he had to. Maybe he was not cut out for college. Yet because of Stern's stubborness, Rose has egg on his face. And I truly believe that this is David Stern's fault.

"With the 56th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons select Amir Johnson." And that was it. No longer were men under the age of 19 allowed to play in the NBA. Amir Johnson holds the distinction of being the last high school player ever to be selected in the NBA's illustrious history. The NBA draft has brought in many a fine high school selections: Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal (he once was really good), Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (just to name a few). But people also will point at players such as Kwame Brown, Shaun Livingston and Sebastian Telfair and point out the character flaws and halt in progression of their game. But how exactly does the NBA's age limit hold up? This all needs to be taken a serious look at.

Amar'e Stoudemire is one of the most talented players in the league. When he was injured for the Suns 2005-2006 season, he spent a majority of it away from the team and gathered a lot of resentment from teammates as a result of it. This season, he's constantly bickered about his role in an offense that's faltering and would spend more time talking about how awful the team is doing rather than doing anything about it on the court. I look at a player like Stoudemire and his maturity level and can't help but think maybe a little bit of college seasoning would have done wonders for his game. His personality and character will never match his potential on the court. He'll always be solid, but he'll never be great. But would he have been great simply by spending a year in college?

What exactly has college done for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant? They still entered the league as underdevloped, still maturing (both mentally and physically) players who were given a few years to progress. Does one year necessarily do the trick? Was Oden's one year at Ohio State enough to make him the first overall pick in the draft? Most would say he had that spot sewn up for whenever he decided to declare. However, the NBA's rule disallowed Oden and Durant, two legal adults, from being able to persue a career. Therein lies the problem.

It's very difficult to determine the maturity of a person and whether or not he or she is ready to contribute to an NBA franchise. But let's face facts here, players are signed out of high school in baseball all the time. All of us are able to leave high school and get a job in whatever field we want, in many cases we could latch onto fortune 500 companies as interns and with the right motivation and knowledge of the business elevate to six figure salaries in a half decade. What the NBA has essentially done is denied players their right to provide for their families and making a living for themselves. What justification can the NBA provide for denying players at 18 a right to make a living by basis of their maturity, but then simply allow them in at 19? Is the one year that much of a progression in character for the NBA? Is that one year in college going to allow that person to tap into their potential and immediately contribute, as opposed to what would happen if they left high school early?

Let's not be foolish here. This is all about marketing. By forcing these players to enter college for at least one season, the NBA allows these players to garner recognition on the college scale, develop fan bases beyond their hometowns or wherever the location of the franchise that selects him is, and also is able to pick and choose which players they want to endorse and put as a face for the league. Greg Oden was the future of the NBA before he ever played a single game. His exposure at Ohio State put a face on the name, and once the season was over the NBA went full speed on promoting someone who was now a household name.

The NBA also might try and put a spin on it and say that it's "immoral" to give these kids so much money so soon in their lives, but let's not pretend that perks and side money don't exist in the college ranks. What business did Kevin Durant, a kid from Washington D.C., have going to Austin to play college basketball? The Longhorns have a mighty fine basketball program, but they're not top tier level and shouldn't realistically have much appeal to a kid from the northeast. Furthermore, how exactly did a college freshman with no job on record obtain consistent front row tickets to San Antonio Spurs games? Do you think he donned an apron at a fast food joint and worked for that treat? Highly unlikely.

Not only that, forcing these players to attend college takes away a degree from someone with realistic hopes of obtaining a bachelors degree. Someone who wants to play sports for four years and move on to a more established career is now no longer allowed to because so many people are going to college for one year just to get noticed and serve out the one year commitment for the NBA (at least O.J. Mayo was honest about it). In the two drafts prior to the age limit put on entrees into the NBA draft, twenty one players from high school were drafted by NBA franchises. In the three years after the rule was put into effect, twenty one college freshman were drafted by NBA franchises. You tell me, what difference is this rule really making?

Is it allowing players with questionable maturity (Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett to name a couple) grow up? Or is it simply prolonging a player's declaration for the NBA draft, preventing those serious about college from obtaining scholarships and furthering a school's chances of being exposed for under the table deals being cut (ala USC with O.J. Mayo, who was very outspoken about not wanting to attend college).

I admit that going to school for at least two or three seasons would do everyone some good. But if the players don't want to go, what are the possibilities that they're going to take that one year of education very serious? For them, their college careers begin and end with the spring semester. We need to stop putting lipstick on a pig, admit that it's a pig, and quit pretending that this age limit is doing anything to better the product of the NBA or college basketball.

1. Los Angeles Lakers(1) - They've been number one all season long, and even though a part of me really wants to move them behind Boston, I simply can't. They've been winning, they've been winning consistently and they've been winning with a new player stepping up every night (ironically, the same can be said about Boston). They, though, have been great since the start of the season and I can't move them behind Boston. Not yet.

2. Boston Celtics(2) - Kevin Garnett is having probably his quitest season. Paul Pierce has been wildly inconsistent and Ray Allen's been a steady version of last year's diminished Ray Allen, yet this team continues to win. Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo, the two unheralded starters, are giving this team quality starts and they compliment what the big three do so well. Perkins' game has really improved this season.

3. Cleveland Cavaliers(3) - I hear people asking "who have they beat", well they've only lost 3 times this season-all on the road. A mark of a good team is winning games that you're supposed to win and that's what the Cavaliers are doing. Charles Barkley is right in saying that LeBron James needs to shut it and start diverting all of his attention to the game and to his team, but a part of me believes that LeBron is more infatuated with the money and stardom than he is actual results on the court, which is why he'll always be a notch behind Kobe Bryant.

4. Denver Nuggets(4) - Even though they had a dissapointing loss at home to New Orleans on Thursday, this team continues to chug along with Chauncey Billups in the lineup. This past week J.R. Smith really heated up and if he regains the form he had for much of last season then this team can only get better. Chris Andersen coming back helps, but he can't be a savior for this frontcourt.

5. Orlando Magic(6) - Rashard Lewis is starting to play really good ball (even if you would like to see better rebounding numbers out of someone his size) and Dwight Howard is improving on his free throw shooting. Losing Mickael Pietrus for three weeks will hurt but this team continues to do what they did last year, quietly win ball games.

6. Portland Trail Blazers(9) - I got some criticism putting them as high as I have the past couple of weeks but they proved me right this week. Brandon Roy is one of the hottest players in the league and they're getting great production out of players like Travis Outlaw and Joel Przybilla. They're deep and they're talented.

7. Houston Rockets(5) - They get Shane Battier back and now Tracy McGrady is having problems with his knee (he's looked dinged up all season, what with his shoulder and whatnot). They are still winning, though, and they're doing it without any of their players playing consistently great ball. Luther Head has stepped up the past couple of games, but Adelman's system allows this team to make up for whoever is struggling on that given night. That's the sign of a good team.

8. Utah Jazz(8) - They had a bad loss to New Jersey but Deron Williams is slowly regaining some of the form he showed last season. It's slow, but steady, progress. Meanwhile, Paul Millsap has been outstanding in Carlos Boozer's absence and you have to believe he's going to see an amazing increase in minutes even when Boozer comes back.

9. Atlanta Hawks(10) - They're getting better play out of Mike Bibby (which is good because teams are starting to double Joe Johnson consistently) and they're surprisingly getting great contribution from Maurice Evans lately. This team just continues to stay around.

10. Phoenix Suns(7) - I've had this team high all season but the intensity and execution they showed the first couple of games has worn off and the honeymoon period has already ended in Phoenix. Amare Stoudemire is now complaining about coach Terry Porter's system and the team is searching for an identity all over again. A tailspin may be in this team's future.

11. Detroit Pistons(11) - Allen Iverson is already missing practice and Rasheed Wallace continues to jack up three pointers. Michael Curry was supposed to bring needed change in attitudes in Detroit but the players and player styles and attitudes continue to hold this talented team back. They should be in better shape than they currently in.

12. New Orleans Hornets(12) - A good win at Denver and a quiet four game winning streak have gotten the Hornets back on track, but they still need some consistent ball out of anyone not named Chris Paul.

13. San Antonio Spurs(19) - Despite the loss to Houston, this team is above .500, they're getting good production out of their young players, and both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are back. Those pesky Spurs just never go away.

14. New Jersey Nets(17) - People said I had them too high last week, I probably have them too high this week, but they're playing tremendous basketball. Devin Harris has played tremendous basketball so far this season and he and Vince Carter have consistently been there every night. They're supporting cast is hit and miss but they're getting a different person to contribute each and every night.

15. New York Knicks(14) - They need to get this Stephon Marbury situation over and done with, because it's clouding what's been a good season so far for the Knicks. David Lee has played great and Tim Thomas has been lights out since coming over from Clipper land. His best season came with D'Antoni in Phoenix, though, and his increase in production doesn't surprise me, and it won't surprise me when his production dips.

16. Dallas Mavericks(18) - There's not a hotter player in the NBA, currently, than Jason Terry and he's keeping this team afloat lately. They still can't get consistent production out of the small forward position and aside from Terry they can't really get an answer at shooting guard either, but Jose Juan Barrera looks like a solid backup at the point guard position.

17. Toronto Raptors(21) - They turned a horrible last week into a solid week this week until they ran into the Lake show. Chris Bosh has been outstanding this season and currently there's not a better big man in the league. They're getting great play out of Andrea Bargnani lately which is very encouraging, though the injury to Jermaine O'Neal isn't.

18. Miami Heat(13) - The Heat have been wildly inconsistent this season and it has to be frustrating for any Heat fan to watch this team win one, and then lose the very next game but at the same time they have to be happy with Dwyane Wade's production. This team is still relatively young and still has room to improve and should probably be around the playoff picture all season long.

19. Chicago Bulls(20) - All things considered, I believe Vinny Del Negro has done a solid job with this team. They're slowly starting to get healthier (and will be better when Kirk Hinrich returns) but they still are an inconsistent bunch. Drew Gooden has played well lately and Luol Deng is slowly returning to form as well.

20. Philadelphia 76ers(15) - Andre Iguodala has played like a guy with a fat new contract, in other words he's definitely underperformed but I think with the offense having to adjust to the half court offense that Elton Brand flourishes in takes away from the strengths of both Iguodala and Andre Miller. Maurice Cheeks needs to succeed this season if he wants to keep his job and it looks increasingly difficult for him to do.

21. Milwaukee Bucks(16) - They're struggling without Andrew Bogut but Richard Jefferson is quietly having a solid season. Charlie Villanueva has put up good number this season but still hasn't brought it consistently like he should in a contract year. He needs to develop a solid game and put that tremendous talent to use but he plays like a small forward and is too slow to play that position. He should look at a player like David West and try to emulate a version of his game and then he can fully reach his potential.

22. Indiana Pacers(22) - The Pacers are puzzling because they just can't seem to get over that hump and win basketball games. Danny Granger has been great, proving last year was no fluke, and Marquis Daniels has continued to play encouraging ball but they can't seem to get going as a unit. Early in the season it was T.J. Ford playing while everyone else was struggling and now Ford has lot a step lately. They need to get it together and I believe they will in the coming month.

23. Minnesota Timberwolves(25) - It feels weird putting them this high but I believe they're the best out of all of the lower tier teams. Sebastian Telfair has been a steady force at point guard with Randy Foye and Mike Miller has had a couple of good games lately. They won't make the playoffs, but winning nearly 30 games this season would be a huge step in the right direction for this squad.

24. Charlotte Bobcats(27) - Jason Richardson has returned and rumors are circling whether or not he will be shopped around. Gerald Wallace has also been rumored to be out the door lately as well and this team looks to be in questionable shape. D.J. Augustin has continued to play great and looks to be the best draft pick the team has made, which is ironic because he was not drafted at a position that needed filling and therefore his selection was criticized.

25. Golden State Warriors(24) - This team has been stuck in reverse all season long and they have to be hoping that when Monta Ellis returns they will make some progress this season because this team is young and in need of a step in the right dirction. Andris Biedrins has cooled off lately and Jamal Crawford, though a need at guard, can't run the offense like they need someone to.

26. Sacramento Kings(23) - This team is reeling and is doing so in a hurry. Even with Mikki Moore's return, this team still needs Kevin Martin as he's not only their best player, he's the team's leader. John Salmons will be a great running mate when Martin returns and if Beno Udrih plays as well as he has without Martin in the lineup then this team can take off. Until then they will continue to struggle.

27. Memphis Grizzlies(26) - The team is slowly reaching irrelevance again and they're really struggling to find ways to win basketball games. I don't think coach Marc Iavaroni has any chance to retain his job which is sad as he was once a promising candidate around the league.

28. Los Angeles Clippers(28) - Zach Randolph was a good acquisition and Al Thornton has played as well as he did last season but this team is missing something. I don't know what it is, but I think this team would be making a horrible mistake in ridding themselves of Chris Kaman. Even though he and Randolph don't mesh well, Kaman is a better player than Randolph and is a much better player than Marcus Camby. They should find a way to keep him on this roster even though they could get a lot for him. Eric Gordon has played great this week.

29. Washington Wizards(29) - As predicted last week, Eddie Jordan was fired but nothing has changed with this team. They have Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and not much past those two players. Because of the guaranteed contracts, this team is in such a deep hole that they're going to be stuck in this position for the next few seasons and may lose their best player (Butler) soon.

30. Oklahoma City Thunder(30) - The 14 game losing streak is over and Kevin Durant and Jeff Green have played great ball this week. The offense looks a lot more fluid with Scott Brooks running the show. Why is Earl Waton still starting and how many chances is this team going to give themselves to draft a productive center in the lottery?

"Man I'm so hyped right now! Anything's possible!" Amidst the crying, yelling, and screaming that followed, we were able to distinguish Kevin Garnett above it all. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were not as overly jubulant and we may have been able to make out what they were saying, but let's not fool ourselves: after years of those three superstars wasting away in mediocrity they were able to come together and give one of the greatest single season performances in NBA history. The Boston Celtics were an extremely proud franchise but had not been able to recover from the retiring of Larry Bird. Many experiments followed. The Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker tandem created the most excitment, but who expected Kenny Anderson and Tony Delk to lead this team to the promised land? Soon Walker left and the Celtics relied on Ryan Gomes and Sebastian Telfair (amongst a strange assortment of other players) to be missing pieces alongside Paul Pierce. Needless to say, the losses piled and the Celtics continued to look at mediocrity as a haven for the current state of their franchise. But then the Celtics found a rebuilding Supersonics team and it all changed. What followed was something right out of a fantasy league. Nobody could have imagined a team pitting Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen on the same NBA squad and hardly anyone could have imagined the three being able to mesh so seamlessly and also be able to generate the most out of a questionable supporting cast. But the "Boston Three Party" quickly came together and created a euphoria in Boston that was unimaginable just one year prior.

It's amazing what a couple of deals can do to the face of a franchise: and all of the teams in the Atlantic division can attest to it. They all seemed to mirror the Celtics vision of changing your franchise's outlook and direction with a couple of transactions and an influx of new players. For better or for worse: the Atlantic division teams are all brand new: except for the Celtics. Nobody can blame the Celtics for staying put, especially since the assortment of players performed so well last season and with Kevin Garnett still serving as the anchor for this squad we have no reason to believe that motivation and hunger should be an issue. But all of the other teams made moves, maybe in a panic, to grab that trophy that's currently in the Celtics possession. From the 76ers acquisition of Elton Brand, to the Raptors rolling the dice on Jermaine O'Neal, followed by the "Firesale For LeBron" sweepstakes in New Jersey and the arrival of a new regime in New York.

Yes, change is abundant in the Atlantic but as the old saying goes, "the more things change the more they stay the same." Plenty of big name players and contracts have been added to the other four competitors, but none of the aforementioned squads will be able to test the Celtics on their quest for back to back championships. All of the other teams will prove to be more competition to the Celtics than they were last year, but at the end of the day the team with the experience, talent, coaching and love for defensive play will stand tall above the rest of the teams in the division. Here's the outlook on the Atlantic division.

1) Boston Celtics - After last offseason's wheeling and dealing, the Celtics won a championship and had the luxury of keeping the team intact for this season. Hunger will be the only obstacle facing this team in its quest to capture a second championship trophy. Kevin Garnett is still the MVP of this team and will handle the onseason leadership role while Paul Pierce continues to show that his spot on the Finals MVP trophy is completely deserved. Ray Allen's production will continue to decrease as he settles into the role of a spectacular spot up shooter (but not much else). Rajon Rondo is already the best defensive point guard in the league and the sky is still the limit for this young guard as he figures to be penciled in as a top ten point guard for the next few years. Kendrick Perkins isn't much more than a big body and bruiser but he isn't needed for much more than his presence. Obviously the departure of James Posey hurts this team (and definitely cripples the bench) and will lessen the Celtics chances at a repeat. His production just simply cannot be replaced by Tony Allen, Eddie House, or Darius Miles. Doc Rivers emerged as someone who looks like he can coach after his taking Phil Jackson to school in the NBA finals. Time will tell if this team is as motivated as it was last season. All signs point to yes.

2) Philadelphia 76ers- Trying to capture the Magic that the Celtics obtained last season, the Sixers set out to pick up an inside presence that would allow Reggie Evans to slide back into a better suited bench role. Elton Brand is just what the doctor ordered; or at least it looks like it on paper. Elton Brand is one of five current players to have career averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds a game. He's had a stellar career but has lacked success regardless of his location. Of course, playing with the Bulls post-Jordan and then suiting up for the Clippers for seven years doesn't give you many opportunities to be successful but now is his best opportunity to show that he's not just a player who puts up good numbers on bad teams. If he can't get it done this season, he's nothing more than Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Andre Iguodala had a solid season last year in response to the critics who bashed Iggy for turning down the contract extension he was offered the previous summer. Iguodala still got his big contract but his performance against the Pistons last postseason is enough to make people second guess his ability to lead and deliver in clutch, crucial situations. As far as point guards go in this league, there aren't many as effecient and effective as Andre Miller is. He never misses games, plays good defense and owns one of the best lob passes in the league. Samuel Dalembert continues to improve at the center position and players like Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young and Willie Green help form the identity of what looks like a promising team. As has been pointed out, their lack of three point shooting could hurt them when the playoffs come around but it won't prevent them from reaching the postseason.

3) Toronto Raptors- Last year was a setback in many ways for the Toronto Raptors players, franchise and fans. The arrival of Bryan Colangelo seemed like a match made in heaven and the 2006-2007 Raptors brought Chris Bosh to the spotlight, got Sam Mitchell a coach of the year award and gave big expectations to Andrea Bargnani entering his second year in the league. Sam Mitchell proceeded to mishandle (badly) the point guard situation with T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon. An injury to Chris Bosh midseason derailed the Raptors and they never recovered. And Andrea Bargnani? When he wasn't pulling down 3 rebounds a game he was shooting near 30 percent from the three point line. Because of his horrible sophomore slump last season, the Raptors looked for an inside presence that could put this team into contention for an Eastern Confrence crown. As far as big names are concerned, acquiring Jermaine O'Neal is a big deal (even if it would have looked much better a few years ago). The team had to part ways with T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic but with Jose Calderon poised and ready to step into the starting point guard role and with Jermaine O'Neal replacing Rasho Nesterovic, this team should be better than what they were last season. Still, let's not fool ourselves. This is a team that was outsted from the playoffs in five games. Unless Jermaine O'Neal turns the clock back three years they will suffer, roughly, the same fate this season. O'Neal never lived up to that humongous contract that the Pacers gave him and it's hard to imagine that playing out of position alongside a player who is a better version of what O'Neal used to be is going to revive O'Neal's game and career. Jason Kapono is deadly from three point range but aside from that, the Raptors don't posses that type of wing player who's capable of taking over a game with his playmaking abilities. Anthony Parker is equally effecient from behind the arc but isn't as lethal a shooter or as much of a threat as Kapono is. Their lack of a true center and their lack of effective, effecient wing players will prevent the Raptors from making a huge splash in the postseason.

4) New Jersey Nets - If you entered last year expecting the Nets to make one last run at an Eastern Confrence crown with Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter then don't feel foolish. It seemed like a match made in heaven - Jason Kidd running the court with outstanding leapers Jefferson and Carter by his side. For whatever reason, that "big three" was never able to get past the semifinals and after watching last season's mediocre season unfold, the Nets went into firesale mode. But don't confuse this as rebuilding. This team has nothing to build around; except for the prospect of landing LeBron James in 2010. Gone are Kidd and Jefferson, in come the promising Yi Jianlian and the ever talented but annoyingly inconsistent Devin Harris to help reshape this Nets team. Jianlian faltered greatly down the stretch last year as he did not handle the 82 game season very well. It's hard to imagine playing for China in the Beijing Olympics helped matters but we'll see what steps he took to improve this season. Devin Harris has been on the cusp the past few years, people eager to see him take over and lead a team. He's yet to do so but posted solid numbers after leaving the Mavericks for Jersey last February. Vince Carter is there in contract and in scoring but not much else. He just seems to glide nowadays and is a shadow of the player that he was back in Toronto. Add that to the frontcourt by committee and it's hard to imagine this team being anything more than competitive this season. But look for them to make some progress this season, especially if Carter is traded by midseason.

5) New York Knicks- Oh, the New York Knicks. What's left to be said of this team that hasn't already been said? After five plus years of torture inflicted onto the fickle New York fanbase courtesy of Isiah Thomas, in comes Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni to save the day. Players love playing for D'Antoni's free spirit and light it up type of offense. Add that to the attractive market that is New York and the Knicks could be perceived as a team ready to turn the corner. Unfortunately, Isiah Thomas left this team stuck in the mud. With atrocious contracts being given to Eddy Curry, Jared Jeffries and Jerome James coupled with taking on ridiculous contracts of Stephon Marbury, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson, and Malik Rose, this team is in financial hell and God himself couldn't save them for this season or next. D'Antoni has his work cut out for him asking Curry and Randolph to leave the buffet table to run the floor and fit into his offense. If it looked awkward trying to incorporate Shaq into the Suns offense last season, one can imagine the fun of watching Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph running up and down the court and hustling. Good luck with that. Stephon Marbury seems like he would be a good fit for this offense, but didn't he look like a good fit alongside Kevin Garnett in Minnesota? Didn't he look like a good fit as the cornerstone in New Jersey? Didn't he look like a player who could bring the Suns what Jason Kidd couldn't? Looks can be deceiving. Stephon Marbury has underachieved on every team he's played for and aggrevated plenty of teammates and personnel over that period. The Knicks have players that fit the system in Richardson, Jamal Crawford, Nate Robinson and David Lee but the reigns of the D'Antoni offense will no longer be handled by Steve Nash, but instead should be headed by Chris Duhon. The only big time free agent acquisition for the Knicks is a low key guy who would be a solid backup on a really good team but hardly is a man to run a complex offense of overpaid crybabies nor is he a candidate to lead them anywhere. His "party boy" tendencies also could be further exposed with the New York media paying close attention to him. Look for New York fans to be extremely patient this year and with this roster as currently constructed, they'll need all that patience and then some.